Having a ball: Students help support wildlife and protect shorelines from erosion
*Note: Due to COVID-19 restrictions, additional reef ball building has been temporarily suspended and will resume only after conditions are safe for all participants.
Building resilience into natural systems that support wildlife and people is serious business. But for students in Maryland, you can have a ball doing it.
Environmental science and masonry students are bringing their unique skills and knowledge together to support Chesapeake wildlife and protect local shorelines. They are part of a 2-year coastal resiliency project that includes shoreline protection, reef habitat restoration and long term marsh resiliency.
The project, developed out of a partnership between U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Chesapeake Bay Field Office, Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center (CBEC), Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Maryland, and Queen Anne’s County Public School System. Protecting a new living shoreline with an artificial reef was critical to the success of the project.
Students at Kent Island High School and Queen Anne’s County High School are gaining both environmental and vocational experience by creating the components of the reef, reef balls made from pouring cement into molds. Once cured, the reef balls will be placed in a nearshore area of Prospect Bay outside CBEC to form an artificial reef that will not only protect the shoreline but also provide habitat for oysters and a feeding area for many Chesapeake Bay fish species.
“The project is fundamentally what environmental literacy is all about — creating stewards through awareness, engagement and action. The education system of the future needs to intertwine classroom learning with real-world application and that’s what CBEC and our partners from Coastal Conservation Association and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are doing with this project.” said Vicki Paulas, CBEC Assistant Director.
Environmental education students began building reef balls in the fall of 2019. Masonry students joined the project this spring and will continuing building through spring 2021.
“Our students are learning by doing and protecting our natural resources due to the generous contributions of expertise, funding, time and energy of our partners. I am so proud of all they will accomplish together,” said QACPS Superintendent Dr. Andrea M. Kane.
Prior to the reef building, representatives from FWS, CCA and CBEC provide presentations to the students about the importance of artificial reefs as habitat to Chesapeake fish and other aquatic wildlife and how artificial reefs to dissipate wave energy helping to protect shorelines from extreme storm events.
”CCA Maryland is proud to continue working with Queen Anne’s County Public Schools to expand the work of the Living Reef Action Campaign, our flagship habitat and education program. Clean water and improved habitat are something we can and will achieve by working together with future generations of conservation minded citizens and anglers,” said David Sikorski, Executive Director, Coastal Conservation Association Maryland.
Future topics for QACPS environmental education could include field trips to the CBEC for surveys and reef ball monitoring.
“The opportunity to partner with Queen Anne’s County Public Schools, Coastal Conservation Association, and Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center is an acknowledgment that we are all-in for education and restoring the Chesapeake Bay,” said David Sutherland, Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Chesapeake Bay Field Office
The 2-year project received funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Coastal Program for priority habitat restoration projects and shoreline resiliency.
